of rochester



No. 749,689.. v P TENTEDtrAffd'i;1904..

T. A. HOUGHTON;

SURGICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 11. mos

N0 XODEL.

. w fl n HI Q UNITED STATES Patented January 12, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS A. HOUGHTON, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO ELECTRO SURGICAL INSTRUMENT COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SURGICAL INSTRUMENT;

SPEGIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 749,689, dated January 12, 1904.

Application filed Apr-i117, 1903. Serial No. 153,017. (No model.)

To all whmn it may concern;

. Be it known that I, THOMAS A. HoUeHToN, of Rochester, in the county ofMonroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Surgical Instruments; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompany,

ing drawings, forming apart of this specifi cation, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon.

My present invention relates to surgical instruments, and particularly to that class known as cauteries; and it has for its object to provide a device that shall be simple and compact, adapting it particularly for internal operations not plainly visible to the operator, and to this end my invention has for its further object to provide means for setting the cutting instrument or knife-blade and operating it accurately after it has been arranged in operative position.

To these and other ends my invention consists in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be fully described, and the novel features pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an instrument constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a similar View illustrating the operation of the device. Fig.

3 is a rear elevation, and Fig. 4 is a crosssec-' tional view on the line 4 t of Fig. 2.

Similar reference-numerals in the several figures indicate similar parts.

The surgical instrument which I have in' vented and will describe further in detail is one adapted particularly for performing operations within cavities or inclosed portions of the human body, and it is designed for use in such operations as prostatectomy, or the incising of a portion of the prostate gland.

The instrument consists of a body portion or sheath 1, preferably circular in cross-section and which is adapted to contain in addition to the knife-blade and operating parts a sight-tube 2, adapted to receive a properly-constructed periscope containing a lens system,

of a knife-blade or cautery-electrode 7.

whereby the parts to be operated upon may i body is a bar or member 5, having its upper surface provided with a slight recess or channel in which is guided an insulated and relatively movable bar or member 6, and pivotally attached at the inner ends of said bars or members is a cutting instrument in the form The latter in its normal position extends in alinement with the bars, and its points of pivotal connection with the latter are formed at unequal distances from the end of the blade, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The journal-point with the bar 5 being arranged in advance of its point of connection with the bar 6, it will be seen that when the latter is moved relatively to the former the blade will be operated at an angle to the body or sheath 1 and projected at one side thereof.

' 8 indicates a guide arranged in the body and extending over the bars to hold them adprojection or abutment, whereby the members may be moved relatively longitudinally in the sheath, and to enable an operator to judge the distance through which the knifeblade is moved by the nut ascale is arranged upon the bar 5, and cooperating therewith is an index-finger 15.

The blade 7 may be an ordinary knife-blade having finely-sharpened edges, or, as is preferable in instruments of this kind, the knife may be formed of platinum and constitute a cautery-electrode, as before mentioned. For

this reason the bars 5 and 6 are insulated from each other and are adapted to form electric conductors or portions of an electric circuit, and at their outer ends I have shown them provided with reduced portions 16, whereby suitable sockets on conductors or wires leading from a current-generator may be easily secured thereto.- 7

In order to move the member 6 relatively to the member 5, I provide the latter with a suitable handle 17, and journaled thereon at 18 is an arm or lever 19, connected to the member 6. Also journaled on the handle at the point 20 is a latch member 21, provided with a series of notches 22, adapted to cooperate with a projection 23 on the arm 19. V The projection is beveled upon its rear side, as shown, so that when the arm is moved rearwardly toward the handle 17 the projection will engage successively in the several notches to lock the blade 7 at any desired angle. When, however, it is desired to return the latter to its normal position, the latch member may be released by moving it downwardly against the tension of its operating-spring 24.

When performing asurgical operation with an instrument of this character it is frequently desirable to inflate the cavity in which it is employed, and for this reason I have shown the rear end-of the body or sheath closed by a plug 25. .At one side of the latter is an aperature or notch through which the bars 5 and 6 operate closely, which also serves, in conjunction with the guide 8, to hold the bar sin alinement. I 26 indicates a tube by means of which suitable pneumatic devices may be attached to supply air through the body of the instrument.

An instrument constructed in accordance with. my invention is simple, and by its use many difiicult operations may be successfully performed.

I do not claim herein the cautery-electrode, as this independent feature of the invention is reserved to form the subject-matter of a subsequent application. I

I claim as my invention 1. The combination with a sheath, a memsaid member and means for adjusting both members longitudinally in the sheath.

3. The combination with two relatively movable bars and a cutting instrument movably attached thereto, of a removable sheath inclosing said. bars and a device for adjusting the sheath and cutting instrument relatively.

4. The combination with a member, a relatively movable member and a cutting instrument attached to each, of a handle attached to one member, an arm attached to the other member and a locking device between the handleand lever.

5. The combination with a member, a relatively movable member and a cutting instrument pivotally attached to the members, of a handle mounted on one of the members, a pivoted lever; attached to the other member and a locking device between the handle and lever.

6. The combination with a member, arelatively movable member and a cutting instrument pivotally attached to the members, of a handle mounted,on one of them, a lever attached to the other member and pivotally attached to the handle and a latch operating to automatically lock said cutting instrument in adjusted position.

7. The combination with a member, a second member movable relatively thereto and a cutting instrument pivotally connected to both members, of a handle attached to one of them, a lever attached to the other member and pivotally connected to the handleand provided with a projection and a spring-operated latch mounted on the handle and cooperating with the projection to hold the member in adjusted position.

8. The combination with a member, a second member movable relatively thereto and a cutting instrument pivotally connected to both members, of a handle mounted on one of the 

